


in the hearts of men

by Noip13



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Changelings, Changelings (Trollhunters) Have Issues, Gen, Politics, Post-Canon, Redemption, Repaying Debt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 07:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17556254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noip13/pseuds/Noip13
Summary: In a world where the fate of the Changelings was never resolved, a treaty between trolls, Changelings, and the Trollhunters attempts to make penance.Or, nine terms, the life of Zhou Chen Chen, and how Chang Chang loses everything and finds herself.





	in the hearts of men

There were riots, at first. Endless protests, fights, arguments. Of course there were. But as the truce stretched from months to years to decades, as each side slowly, reluctantly, delivered on their promises, the violence quelled.

* * *

Chang Chang remembers the early days well. She had an adopted son in high school, an aging mother, a position in the Supreme People's Court, a thousand reasons to stay in and just one to leave...but it had been a very convincing reason. Backed by a truce sworn on Heartstone, by the Trollhunter and the head of New Trollmarket—and by Strickler, the Changeling that had come to them in human form, soft and vulnerable and with tears in his eyes, begging for one more chance, for him, for all of them. He'd gotten on his hands and knees in front of her when she was still Zhou Chen Chen, regional head of the ruins of the Janus Order, and made his case.

"The Gumm-Gumms never cared about us. Morgana never cared about us. The trolls hate us on principle. This is our chance to change everything," he'd said. Deep bags had shadowed his eyes as he'd gazed up at her through hastily slicked-back hair. "We have to try. At least once." 

Chang Chang had worn Zhou Chen Chen's face for fifty years, but looking at her son's own face as she prepared breakfast the next morning, she had not had the heart to keep it any longer.

* * *

Oh yes, Chang Chang remembers those times. She doesn't think she will ever forget them. In the depths of the regional Janus headquarters, Changelings pressed against one another, shouting up at her and Strickler and Nomura and the Trollhunter. Their fists bared, their weapons half-drawn, a second from pouncing on anyone who disagreed with them.

And Nomura, eyes bright and burning as fire, hair flying, khopeshes inched out of their sheathes, half-roaring to the furious crowd, "It's not _punishment!_ It's _penance!_ "

* * *

_Term One: Changelings with loved ones  that are dependent on them or that will be heavily distressed by an early death will be permitted to live out their human lives until an appropriate age._

She'd "died" in her sleep fifteen years later, after her mother had passed and her son had a job and his own life. She’d left half of her possessions to her son and the rest to a scholarship headed by Changelings that would stay in these human lives a little longer.

_Term Two: Upon this "death", Changelings will disappear from the human world and leave the infant they replaced in a Changeling-run or vetted orphanage._

Then, she’d reached through a Fetch and taken little Zhou Chen Chen in her own lime-green arms. She'd given the baby--a ripple bouncing back, a chord thrumming ever so slightly alongside her own--her name back, and taken her to an orphanage run by more ex-Janus members. The finest orphanage in the Shandong province, in fact.

And then she'd stayed. Spent her days in the serene underground caverns and tunnels the trolls had helped them build to connect Changeling-run buildings. She missed living a human life, sometimes, but after years of hiding her true nature, it had been a relief, in a way, to spend so much time in her natural state among her brethren--and even a few trolls, occasionally. 

_Term Three: Enough money for the human to live comfortably will be discreetly provided by Changelings._

They all had helped the Changelings still in the living world with both their work and the new Changeling duties. Paper trails needed to be laid out. Shell corporations had to be constructed. It had been bitter and tedious work, to pump back into humanity what Changelings had spent centuries, millennia, hoarding. But it had been in the name of a better future.

And if truly was to be the last of the Changeling's work in the human sphere, she had wanted to do a good job of it. After all, as a former judge and politician, Chang Chang's assistance had been high in demand.

_Term Four: Throughout their human's life, Changelings are sworn to watch over them, and to protect and to assist them from the shadows._

Her nights? She had spent those watching over Zhou Chen Chen, learning who this girl she had been was. The real Chen Chen had slept in the Darklands for fifty years. Chang Chang had visited her once, when she was thirty. Seeing her own features reflected in the nameless infant's eternally smooth skin, she'd been unnerved. 

She'd never gone back.

But with the real Chen Chen growing into a young girl, it became easier to draw the distinction. The real Chen Chen liked music, not books. She spoke slowly, rather than at the bullet-fast speed Chang Chang had been known for. She was a sulky girl, while Chang Chang had always found humans much much more easily manipulated by a friendly and easygoing child.

Chen Chen whined constantly, however, and was never satisfied. She soon became a class outcast with few friends.

Chang Chang had made the necessary calls. Su-lin had spent less than a year as a human before the truce, and at the time, a Changeling of her age was in high demand all across China. Chang Chang's status as a judge in her former life, however, had left a lot of Changelings indebted to her. So it was that when Su-lin's father had been considered for a promotion that might have moved their family to any of a dozen provinces clamoring for their daughter's intervention, the family ended up in Shangdong, with Su-lin placed in Chen Chen's class.

Children might be contrary to adults, after all, but they are far more malleable to those their own age.

_In summary, a Changeling's penance to the human whose life they took is not simply to make their human safe or comfortable. They should do their utmost to help the human build a happy and fulfilling life._

* * *

 Years pass.

_Term Five: In recognition of the Changelings’ sacrifice, the trolls of New Trollmarket, the Quagawampa, and the Krubera herefore swear to no longer scorn Changelings, but to instead welcome them as their own brethren and to recognize them as victims and survivors of Morgana's twisted magics._  

Chang Chang chooses her new name ten years after leaving her old life. It isn’t as if the timing means anything in particular, or has any special significance. It’s a fad--most of the other Changelings in her little village are doing the same at the time. It’s nice, though. She had taken Chen Chen's face, her life, when she herself had been so young. This new life, one of quiet protection, soothes a sting of which she had never been quite aware.

_Term Six: The aforementioned trolls will do their utmost to spread this message of tolerance and equality among trollkind._

_Term Seven: The aforementioned trolls will assist Changelings in establishing initial settlements wherever Changelings wish._

To have this new name, for this new life--yes, it is…satisfying.

_Term Eight: The aforementioned trolls will welcome Changelings into their own settlements. Discrimination on any level on the basis of a Changeling being a Changeling is heretofore punishable by law._

_Term Nine: The Trollhunters swear that their and all future Trollhunters' duties of protection, assistance, and punishment are expanded to encompass the Changeling subspecies._

_In summary, the troll clans signing this treaty acknowledge the role their treatment of Changelings played in the perpetuation of the Janus Organization's activities. In recognition of the Changelings' efforts, they will meet them halfway._

* * *

Decades pass.  

The woman known as Zhou Chen Chen has a happy life. Tenure as a professor of biology, with several well-regarded books on chireptology to her name. A wife, two children, three grandchildren, a number of friends, a number of pet turtles. Plenty of money--she'd been lucky and received a weighty scholarship, a number of tax breaks, a free car, and an almost suspiciously good deal on her house, all spaced a very innocent number of years apart. She dies of cancer at sixty-nine, her life cut unfortunately short but still rich in its depth.

The Changeling known as Chang Chang that arranged much of that good luck is living in New Trollmarket shortly before Chen Chen’s death. She had moved almost two decades ago, satisfied with Chen Chen’s life and what she and the other Changelings beneath her province had accomplished. She'd been seeking to help more. Now, she’s working once again as a judge and politician. She is the second Changeling to join the Council, the first being Walter, the Changeling that once went by the name of "Strickler". Walter, Blinky, AAARRRGGHH!!!, and the Trollhunters have done their best to eradicate troll hatred of Changelings and solidify the still-begrudging treaty, but it’s a long slog and they need her experience. 

She likes it. She’s not working for a monster, but for her people, and frankly, they need every ally they can get.

The Changelings that made their permanent home under Chang Chang's old province send news of Chen Chen's sickness, and it reaches Chang Chang shortly after the diagnosis and two months before her once-counterpart passes. Chang Chang takes the first trans-Atlantic gyre available back to Shangdong and spends much of the next two months watching over Chen Chen as she had done so many times, years ago. She makes sure Chen Chen is comfortable and treated well by the hospice staff--which thankfully isn't very necessary, as the nurses are excellent, and even if they weren't, Chen Chen's family is by her side every step of the way. 

On several occasions, Chang Chang uses a glamour mask to disguise herself as a nurse or doctor and slips into the hospital at night. She stands quietly outside the room that contains the woman she used to be and observes the features, three years more wrinkled than hers had ever been, of Zhou Chen Chen.

Perhaps it is only because it has been over sixty years since she wore that face, but she feels at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> "Peace is not made at the council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men."--Herbert Hoover
> 
> I wrote most of this long before season three came out (for a fanzine run by rockscientist on the THCC...that I ended up sorta never submitting it to, oops). Specifically, I wrote this to try to puzzle out in my head the massively knotty problem of the Changelings--how they can pay for what they did, how they can take control of their lives, and how everyone can begin to address their complicated situation in a reasonable way.
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcomed and begged for. Please, tear me apart.
> 
> If you have anything you wanna say, please pop into [my tumblr ](http://noip13.tumblr.com/)! I love to talk.


End file.
